Chicago North Shore Alumnae Panhellenic Awards Local Scholarships

Bridget Zhu, Buffalo Grove resident and daughter of Helen Chen and William Zhu, is the recipient of the Academic Scholarship. Bridget has a 4.77 GPA and has completed numerous AP classes while a student at Stevenson High School. She helped revive the History Fair Club that studied a problem and qualified at the national level, among over 1,000 applications, recognized as an Outstanding Entry. Bridget was recognized by Senator Tammy Duckworth for her National Community Service Awards. A skilled artist, she has led students to become involved with their community in various art projects from sewing stuffed bears for the Hugs Project, tying fleece blankets for Project Linus, or folding origami cranes for Joey’s Wings. Bridget served as president of Art from the Heart and has built the organization from 8 students to over 50 actively involved members, who collaborate with other clubs in providing service to the community. A National Merit Scholarship Finalist, Bridget is planning to attend Duke University in the fall to study environmental engineering.

Trisha Patel, Long Grove resident, is the recipient of the Service Scholarship. Trisha, the daughter of Deepti Patel, has maintained a 4.67 GPA and served as web editor of her school newspaper for 4 years; she initiated the web presence of the paper. She has served as president of her Rotary Interact Club, was founder/president of Teach for Hope, served as president of International Youth in Illinois, and has received countless awards for her writing, journalism, and service. She received the Waukegan Proud Award from Mayor Cunningham for her work in the Waukegan schools and with homeless people in Waukegan. A few years ago, she started collecting funds for sleeping bags for the homeless and putting together hygiene kits for them with donations she received—the first year she was able to distribute 100 sleeping bags. Once her Stevenson High School classmates heard about her work, others wanted to become involved and in the past few years, over 300 sleeping bags have been distributed. Trisha plans to attend UCLA in the fall to study biology.

The Chicago North Shore Alumnae Panhellenic Association is aligned with the National Panhellenic Conference, one of the largest organizations advocating for women pursuing higher education. Delegates from member sororities unite with the common goals of philanthropy and community service. The Chicago North Shore Alumnae Panhellenic Association awards monetary assistance to outstanding area high school senior women who will attend a college or university with NPC sorority affiliations. Grants are also provided to Northwestern University and Lake Forest College women to attend the Undergraduate Interfraternity Leadership Conference.